The 9th Human
by crow102
Summary: Fifty years after Neutral!Frisk left the Underground and returned to the surface, a new human falls down. With no memory of her past life, this human must make her way through the Underground in an attempt to return to the surface so she can-hopefully-rediscover her past. Frisk, on the other hand, has some regrets about leaving the Underground. (Male!Frisk)
1. Chapter 1

I don't remember what happened. I don't remember where I came from, or who I am. All I remember was waking up in a sea of yellow, staring up at the sky. Wow. Way to be a cliche.

My head spun as I tried to get up. A wave of nausea rose in my throat. I looked around, struggling to calm my queasy stomach. Rock walls surrounded me on three of four sides. A hole above me showed a small section of the sky and a single tree branch. The sea of yellow, I noticed, was in fact a bed flowers, larger than my body. One of the flowers clung possessively to my pant leg, and I struggled to free myself.

I stayed there for several minutes, somewhat nervous, but not scared. _Apprehensive._ There we go. Finally, I came to the conclusion that the only way out was forwards, and stumbled through the corridor that was the only exit, eventually coming to a doorway. I stepped through, gazing around cautiously. I wish I had a weapon of some sort.

Two staircases diverged and then rejoined at a platform. I walked up the leftmost one, coming upon yet another doorway, which I headed through, blinking several times as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Six panels were arranged on the floor and a barely detectable-path led to yet another door. A yellow lever could be seen to the right of the door. The room seemed like it used to be inhabited but had since gone abandoned. The layer of dust was thin, but it was still there.

I eyed the panels uncertainly. Logic dictated that they were buttons of some sort, but I did not know how they worked. In a futile attempt to open the door, I stepped across them randomly for several seconds, then pulled the lever. To my astonishment, the door opened.

The next room extended in front of me for several meters. Small streams intermittently split the ground, and wooden bridges spanned over them. In the far end of the room, I saw a row of spikes, about a meter tall.

I licked my lips thoughtfully, then came to a decision. I ran full speed across the floor. When I was about a meter from the spikes, I launched myself into the air, diving forwards and landing on my stomach with a thud over the spikes. I laid on my stomach, winded, for a few seconds, before continuing.

Several rooms later, I came across a bridge filled with spikes. "What kind of fool made this place?" I grumbled, looking for around, searching for a way to cross. When none presented itself, took a step back, took a deep breath, and plunged into the water, inhaling sharply as I was submerged in the icy water. It was deeper and rougher than it had seemed from the surface, and on several occasions I was pulled under and struggled to resurface, searching for a bottom to bounce off of but finding that my ears would begin to hurt from the pressure before my feet hit against anything. Eventually, a wave guided me towards the exit, at first at a pleasant speed and then significantly less so as I was washed painful ashore the rough rocks. I shivered as I pulled myself further ashore, moving clumsily in my waterlogged clothing. I coughed several times, spat out some water, before falling against the earth, more tired than I thought I would be from covering such a relatively short distance.

I stood up unevenly, growing dizzy and nearly falling down before placing one arm out against the rock wall to support myself. A spider crawled over my hand and I retracted it hurriedly, shaking it to remove the arachnid. I turned to the room in front of me, hoping that there wouldn't be another stupid and ineffective trap ahead of me.

There wasn't. In fact, there was nothing in the room except for some vines, a needlessly curving, barely detectable path, and a single column in the far end of the room. Which, considering that I just had to jump over spikes and cross a bridge of spikes by nearly drowning, seemed a little bit too innocent. Unfortunately, there was nothing feasibly wrong with the room and also no obvious way around simply crossing the floor, so that's what I did, slowly, carefully inching across the floor, making sure that not a single step that I took was going to betray me to a pitfall or rotating panel or net that would swoop down and trap me.

As it turned out, my fears were ill-founded. I managed to cross the entire room without triggering a single trap. It appeared to be just as innocent as it appeared. Which sucked, considering I had just spent five minutes daintily crossing a room that I could have simply sprinted down without any trouble.

I progressed through the next few rooms easily, although once I had to propel myself over a chasm that seemed to have formed many years ago but had only widened to be about twice the width of my body. Actually, to say that I had to propel myself over it would be a severe overstatement. A more accurate term would be _step._

Honestly, it was easy to cross through the rest of the rooms once I realized that I could simply leap over the spikes. There was really no nuance to the traps, just lots of rooms with spikes at the end of them. Before long, I had arrived at a sad little house. It looked liked it had once been well-loved, but since then it had fallen into a dilapidated state of disrepair. Testing the handle, I discovered that it was locked, but it was a simple enough matter to smash through one of the windows and leap through, and found myself standing in a small foyer with a hallway to what looked like bedrooms on the right, a small living room to the left, and a staircase leading downwards straight ahead. _Downstairs,_ a tiny voice inside my mind whispered. I did not spend any time wondering who it was. I vaulted over the railing and landed in an awkward lunge on the flat area between where the staircase turned around. I got up quickly and ran down the corridor that it led into. It did not cross my mind to question why.

Whoever built this place seemed to be overly fond of doorways. I had to pass through three of them before eventually making my way outside. My only welcome was a blast of icy cold wind and a faceful of snow. I wish I had brought something warmer. Or, rather, unintentionally fallen down a pit so deep I don't understand how I survived with something warmer. All I was wearing was an old yellow and orange striped shirt and black jeans. And, apparently, that was all I would be wearing for quite some time.

It occurred to me that I must have made my way aboveground. Obviously, it couldn't snow underground. Of course, though, there was actually zero advantage to me returning aboveground because I didn't remember where I came from or if I knew anybody.

I began trekking onwards through the snow. It occurred to me that if I was close enough to place this cold that snowed this regularly, my past self probably should have been smart enough to wear boots that went up past my ankles. Receiving a bootful of snow was more than a little uncomfortable, not to mention wet.

A stick cracked behind me. I whipped around, but nothing was there. Instinctively, I balled both hands into fists. If anything comes out and attacks me, they're going to regret, I told myself firmly, conveniently disregarding the fact that if they were armed with a gun or something my fists would be all but worthless against them. After checking my surroundings again, carefully checking to make sure that nobody was hiding in the shadows, I turned around again, continuing somewhat more cautiously this time.

I stopped before a bridge, eyeing it curiously. It looked like at one time it had bars blocking someone from passing, but by this point all but two of the bars had fallen off into the stream below, which remained unfrozen. I bent down to see if the bridge was stable, then screamed as someone appeared in front of me. No, not someone. SomeTHING. I raised my head carefully, ascertaining what exactly had appeared.

He looked somewhat like a skeleton. A skeleton, that is, who had disproportionately sized bones and wore a blue hoodie. "Wh... where did you come from?" I stammered. My voice sounded different from what I remembered, not that I remembered what it had sounded like all too well. The skeleton said nothing in response, but held out his hand.

"dont you know how to greet a new pal?" he said.

"I... I don't trust you somehow," I said, taking a single step backwards. "And I sure as hell don't consider you my 'pal'."

The skeleton retracted his hand. "wow, kid," he said. "guess youre not much one for jokes, huh? thats a shame."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"hey, lighten up, bucko. nobody here is going to hurt you. not anymore, at least," he said. I stared at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"had you come a few years earlier, kid, youda had a bad time down here," he said. His voice had a curious inflection when he said those words.

"Uh... what do you mean?"

"nevermind, kid," he said. "forget it. point is, nobody down here would want to hurt you."

I stared through him-literally. "Since when do skeletons exist?" I asked absently. I was probably dreaming, I realized. This whole thing seemed way too surreal and, more importantly, unusual than I would expect from the real world. Falling down a giant gaping hole in the ground and surviving? Coming across something reminiscent of an ancient temple? Meeting a skeleton? Unlikely. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?" I asked him.

The skeleton regarded me evenly. "i'm not sure if i should be offended by that," he said. "you most certainly are not. do i really seem so impossible to fathom actually existing in 'the real world'?"

I hesitated. "Yeah," I said eventually. A slight grin crossed his face.

"well, at least you're honest," he said. "integrity. that's something that i hear humans possess a lot of."

"What?"

"forget it," he said. "come on. i'll take you into town, show you around, introduce you to everyone. i'm sure my bro would like to meet you," he added. "he was pretty close friends with the last human who fell down here to the underground. may or may not have had a crush on her."

"Uh... what?" The skeleton had turned around and was now walking forwards, away from wherever it was that I had just escaped from. "You mean we're still... underground?"

"of course, kiddo. that's what we call the place, in fact. the underground." He was quiet for a moment, then added, "our king isn-wasn't-very good at naming things," he said. "guess what our capital is called?"

I shrugged, puzzled by the non sequitur. Then, after a moment, I realized that the skeleton wouldn't be able to see the gesture, so I verbalized it. "I don't know. Why is that relevant?"

"he calls it new home."

"What happened to the old one?"

"you just left it, kid. those are the ruins... the ruins of home."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"that's what we called it. home." I got the impression that he was making a face, even as his back was turned towards me. "you'd expect that the queen would step in and intervene-she's a bit more, uh, intelligent-but apparently not."

I said nothing for a minute. "How far is the walk?" I asked eventually.

The skeleton shrugged. "oh, fifteen minutes or so. it was a lot longer back when we bothered trying to capture humans. my brother, papyrus, he was a human hunting fanatic. you should of seen some of the puzzles he built, before the queen stepped up and asserted that we wouldn't capture any others of your kind. i mean, you'll still see their remains, of course," he said. "but they were a lot more impressive when they were active. even if they failed."

I nodded as I processed that information. "Do you have a name?"

"nah," he said. I stared at him. "joking, joking. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. nice to meet you. and you are?"

I hesitated. Eventually, I simply spread my hands apart and made a noise that sounds someone akin to, "Ehh?" Sans looked at me like I was crazy. Honestly, I don't blame him.

"your name is ehh?" he asked.

I glared at him. "No," I said impatiently. "I don't remember what my name is."

Sans turned around and continued walking. "That's, uh, not good," he said. "do you… do you have a name you'd like to be called?"

I shrugged and jammed my thumbs into my pockets. "I don't plan on staying down here to need one," I said. "If you could just show me to the nearest exit that'd be great."

"about that," the skeleton said as we passed by a weird-looking sentry station with pieces of smashed pottery and a weird piece of fabric resembling a severely-crumpled lampshade, "at the moment, the only way down here are through holes in the ground. Like the one you fell through."

I blinked. "I didn't fall," I said. "If I had fallen, I wouldn't have been able to survive. I don't know what weird enhancements you have that would enable you to survive such a fall, but I don't have them."

The skeleton shook his head. "believe me, kid, you fell down there. there are no humans down here. and you're not the first human to fall down here."

"Then why are there no humans down here?"

Sans halted and turned around. His pupils had seemingly vanished, giving him a grotesque, ominous look. Come to think of it, how could a skeleton have pupils in the first place? "They died," he said. His voice was no longer jocular and happy. I curled my fingers into a fist, wishing I had a more substantial form of weapon. Sans, however, did not seem to be keen on attacking me. "well," he added, his pupils reappearing, although from where I am not certain. "one of them made it out. We haven't heard from them since." He turned around and continued walking. "anyways, kid, don't worry about it. nobody down here is gonna hurt you anymore. the queen banished that sort of thing we she stepped into the throne. besides," he continued, "killing humans no longer has any purpose."

"And it had a purpose however long ago?"

"naturally," he said. "we were collecting human souls to try to break the barrier that's trapping us all down here. then they escaped mysteriously, so we've done away with that plan."

"There's no such thing as a soul," I scoffed.

The skeleton narrowed his eyes. "funny how that works out, isn't it?" he asked. "here we are, with human souls being the only current feasible way for us to escape, and you humans don't even believe that they're real anymore."

"Why is that funny," I stated flatly.

"nevermind," the skeleton said.

"So why are you trapped down here?" I asked.

Sans turned and began walked once more, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket as he did so. "a few centuries, there was a giant war between humans and monsters-"

"Is that what you are? A monster?" I asked interrupting him. "I thought you said you were a skeleton."

"i am a skeleton. but all of down here are collectively referred to as monsters. we don't all fit into the same category of animal, so the humans adopted the term 'monster.' they don't like imagining that there are sentient versions of some of the animals that they domestic and incarcerate as pets."

"What do you mean?"

"like... bunnies, lizards, dinosaurs... they're all considered 'monsters.'"

"Humans don't 'incarcerate,' as you put it, dinosaurs. Dinosaurs don't exist anymore."

"how do you know," he asked, "if you lost your memory?"

I froze suddenly. "How do you... how do you know about that?"

The skeleton fell silent for a few minutes. "uh... i just figured, because, you know, you said you didn't have a name, and, uh..." he trailed off and I glared at him suspiciously for several seconds, although eventually I grew bored of this and half-ran several steps to catch up to him. He shook his head as if to clear it. "anyways," he said. "about the war. the human soul is stronger than the monster soul. they possess determination, integrity, bravery... we don't."

"You seem to have enough integrity to me," I offered, then added, "although I don't know that much about you."

Sans shook his head. "that's not what i mean," he said. "those are just the names we attach to certain traits that human souls possess. monsters do possess them, but not in anywhere near as much volume as humans do. anyways," he continued, "the humans were eventually able to defeat us and seal us up down here. they erected a barrier around the only entrance to the surface world that we would be able to use. It takes the power of seven human souls to smash through it. that's why we were killing humans," he added, "to collect their souls. unfortunately, because humans are idiots-"

"Hey!"

"-they decided to make the shield just barely stronger than the human soul. It takes one human soul and one monster soul to cross the barrier. so, in order for any humans to escape, they would have to absorb the soul of a monster. the only problem is very few monsters have souls that persist after death. most of them are so weak that they vanish immediately after dying, so you can't absorb those."

"What kinds of monsters have souls strong enough to exist after the monster dies?"

"monsters like the queen, and the king when he was alive. that's why he was killed," he added. "the seventh human to fall down here needed his soul to escape to the surface."

"What was their name?"

Sans looked at me, surprised. "i have no idea," he stated flatly. "i guess that makes me a pretty bad friend, huh?"

"You're friends with the guy who killed your king?"

Sans shrugged. "they did what was necessary. i don't blame them for that."

"Couldn't they just have stayed down here?"

"they could've," he said. "but would you want to?"

"I don't know anything that has happened since I fell down here," I pointed out. "You seemed to know that."

Sans shrugged. "well, this human remembered life on the surface. if you remembered your past life, wouldn't you want to return to it?"

I exhaled loudly. "Probably," I admitted. I began dragging my feet on the snow.

"do you want to stay down here? or would you take the life of another to escape?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm not just going to go around killing monsters to find out which ones have souls that I can take in order to escape."

The skeleton smiled. "if it helps, my soul is strong enough."

I stopped walking. "What are you talking about?" Sans said nothing in reply, didn't even seem to acknowledge my statement. "Are you asking me to kill you?" I asked incredulously.

"Listen, kid," he said bleakly. "Nothing down here's gonna be changing any time soon. You get pretty tired of the despair after a while."

"You ARE asking me to kill you," I said, beginning to walk again, stumbling slightly as I did so. Wonder still tainted my voice. "That's horrible," I spat, my voice now infected with revile.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "After all, it really doesn't matter if I die. I'll just end up right back here sooner or later, having the same conversation with you. Or maybe I'll go all the way back to when the seventh human was here!" he said, a note of happiness splashing into his voice in the last sentence.

"What... what are you talking about?"

The skeleton lowered his head. "oh, nevermind," he said. "forget i said anything about it."

"Why?" I persisted.

Sans turned to me and halted. He stared into my eyes for several seconds, then turned and continued walking. "I can't tell you that," he said, spitting his words slightly as if they were poisonous.

"Why not?"

"if i told you why not, it would be as good as telling you in the first place," he said. "just, forget it, please. i don't want to talk about it. i don't want to remember it." He increased his speed, until his figure was just a silhouette in the snow. I stared after him from a distance. I couldn't will myself to move.


	2. Chapter 2

Eventually, I stumbled into a small village. Somehow, the snow had lessened around the small bubble of buildings. Smoke rose from many chimneys, and several more 'monsters' could be seen dancing around some of the huts.

"Is that a human?" I heard a young rabbit asked as I passed. Sans was right. Humans do not like seeing that some of their domesticated pets are sentient.

"I've always wanted to meet a human!" a somewhat older rabbit declared. Both rabbits must have been under the human age of ten, although I can't say I'm particularly good at judging the age of rabbits.

"You have, Cinnamon," a female rabbit said. She was older than both rabbits, and the younger one clung to her side. "You were younger than Sage at the time, but you were alive about fifty years ago when the last human passed through here."

I managed to choke on nothing as I heard that. "I'm sorry, did you say that this guy is over fifty years old?" I asked her.

"Oh, yes of course," she said. "He has less than sixty years to go before he becomes an adult," she said, smiling and patting the rabbit's shoulder affectionately.

"Oh," I said, my head spinning. "I'm sorry, I'm... not used to-"

"Don't worry about it," she said, smiling at me. "Humans are different. I understand." She disengaged the older child (Cinnamon, I think his name was) from her leg and spread her arms out. "Welcome to Snowdin, human," she said. "I'm Pepper, what's your name?"

I stared at her blankly. "I don't have one," I admitted sheepishly. She stared at me, somewhat concerned.

"Do... do humans no longer name their young?"

"No, it's not that, it's just..." I began, uncertain as to how to continue. "I don't remember what mine is."

"Oh that's... that's horrible, human! We... the citizens of Snowdin, shall give you a name!" she declared.

"Oh, no it's alright, really," I insisted. "I don't plan on staying here long?"

"Well, where do you plan on going, then?" she asked. I shrugged. I hadn't though about that, although I knew that I should've. "I'm not sure," I told her. "I haven't thought about it."

"Stay with us, human," she implored. I resisted at first. "We love having guests," she told me. Eventually I broke down and agreed, and she smiled brightly. "Excellent!" she declared. "My aunt runs an inn, called Snowed Inn!" I narrowed my eyes at that, but Pepper didn't notice. "I'm sure I can convince her to let you have a room. Or," she added, "You could stay with those weird skeleton brothers. They have an extra room in their garage. It's a bit... unconventional... but I'm sure it's cozy."

"Oh!" I said. "You mean Sans?"

"Yeah, Sans and his brother, Papyrus. I take it you two met?"

I nodded. "He, uh... he... he asked me to kill him."

Pepper froze. "He asked you to what now?"

"You heard me right," I said. "It was weird. He seemed like a jokester... Then, I asked him how to return to the surface, and he... he asked me to kill him. It was, uh... It was unusual."

"Um... why?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. He seemed kind of... depressed, actually," I told her.

"Sans? Depressed?" Pepper shook her head, perplexed. "No, Sans isn't... He enjoys pranks and puns too much for a... for a depressed person."

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but I've know the skeleton for a few centuries. Some serious change must have taken over him for him to be depressed."

"He seems pretty upset about the fact that you all were stuck down here with no immediate way of escaping. And then he... then he announced that it didn't really matter if you escaped because... you'd just end up back here. At first I thought he meant that the humans would banish them back down here, but then... Then he said that he would be having this conversation with me again, and... it was weird. Like he expected someone to place a patch on a rip in the fabric of space-time and then we'd end up in the past for some reason."

"That doesn't sound like him," Pepper said. "Are you sure that was Sans?"

"He called himself that," I said. "He's a skeleton. Wears a blue hoodie. Et cetera."

"That's... odd," she said. "Maybe you should check on him... make sure that he's alright. I can arrange for you to stay with him, if you'd like," she offered. "I think you'd get along well with his brother. Assuming you like spaghetti, that is."

"What?"

"Nevermind," she said. "Come on, I'll show you to his house. Papyrus should be home-that's his brother."

Sans lived in a cozy-looking two-story house. In my opinion, it seemed rather larger to have just two people inhabiting it. Pepper rapped loudly on the door. "Sage," she admonished the younger rabbit, who had followed us here from the other side of the village. "It's impolite to look through someone's windows." The bunny, clearly frustrated, threw himself onto the snow with all of his might in response. Fortunately, he didn't actually have that much might, and so his protests were, for the most part, irrelevant and therefore ignored.

A tall skeleton wearing a bright red scarf opened the door. His eyes went to Pepper, who was somewhat taller than me, before snapping to myself. "OH MY GOD, A HUMAN!" he declared. "I HAVEN'T SEEN ONE OF YOUR KIND SINCE THE OTHER ONE LEFT FOR THE SURFACE!" he positively squealed with delight, then began pacing the floor nervously. "OH, DO FORGIVE ME HUMAN, I FEEL JUST AWFUL! I WASN'T ABLE TO RECALIBRATE ANY OF MY PUZZLES IN TIME FOR YOUR ARRIVAL... I'M SURE YOUR JOURNEY TO SNOWDIN WAS JUST... UNBEARABLY BORING! AND HUNGRY! I WASN'T ABLE TO COOK YOU ANY OF MY WORLD-FAMOUS SPAGHETTI! I FEEL HORRIBLE ABOUT THIS!"

"Hey, whoa there Paps, calm down."Pepper was saying. The skeleton-Papyrus-seemed extremely distressed by the situation. "I don't think puzzles are as common where she comes from," she said. "You're not breaking any social norms of hers."

"YES, BUT-"

"It's, uh... fine, really," I told him. "I guess it was kind of relaxing maybe not really?"

"YES, BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN EXCITING!" Papyrus mourned. "I HAVE LET EVERYONE DOWN!"

"Hey, chill, Papyrus," Pepper said. "She was probably overwhelmed enough as it was, without having to deal with puzzles. Right?" she asked, elbowing my ribs painfully. I winced and glared at her, then nodded several times.

"Right," I said. "It's fine. I really wouldn't have wanted to complete whatever puzzles it was that you were planning on showing me."

"VERY WELL, HUMAN," Papyrus said reluctantly. "PERHAPS I CAN STILL INTEREST IN SOME OF MY WORLD-FAMOUS SPAGHETTI, THOUGH?" he asked.

"That would be great, thanks," I said, stepping inside. "Uh, is Sans home? Pepper wants to talk to her," I said, kicking Pepper's shin.

Papyrus tilted his head to the side, by which I mean he practically rolled his head to 90 degrees from the normal position at which it should have been in. "DID YOU JUST CALL SANS A HER," he asked.

"Uh, him, sorry," I said.

Papyrus sniffed. "VERY WELL," he said. "NO, HE IS NOT HOME RIGHT NOW. I WILL TELL HIM THAT PEPPER WAS LOOKING FOR HIM IF YOU WISH."

"I'm sure the human can just pass on my message," Pepper said, pushing me farther into the house.

"Nah it's cool," I told her. "I wouldn't want to impose," I said. I heard Pepper kick the door closed behind me. Papyrus was staring at me with a concerned look on his face.

"UH..." he began. "I WILL BEGIN MAKING YOUR SPAGHETTI, I GUESS," he said, excusing himself into the kitchen. For my part, I wandered over the couch and flopped down onto it.

He was suspiciously fast in preparing the spaghetti. Less than five minutes later, he placed a single steaming plate of spaghetti on the floor in front of me. He dumped an excessively large tub of parmesan cheese onto the plate and placed a single oregano leaf onto the center of the plate. "EAT UP, HUMAN!"

I blinked several times. "Do I get a fork?"

"PAPYRUS'S WORLD FAMOUS SPAGHETTI IS BEST ENJOYED WITHOUT UTENSILS," the skeleton informed me. "BUT IF THE HUMAN WISHES IT TO BE SO IT WILL BE SO." He ran into the kitchen. I heard something slam, and then I ducked swiftly as a fork was hurled at my head.

"Jesus christ!" I snarled. "What the hell?!"

"I AM SORRY, HUMAN!" announced Papyrus. "THE UTENSIL DRAWER STILL HASN'T FORGIVEN ME FOR THAT REMARK. IT DOES NOT LIKE TO FEEL INADEQUATE."

"Papyrus, it's an inanimate object."

"THAT'S WHAT SANS SAID," Papyrus said. "I SAY THAT SUCH A THING IS RUDE AND DISCRIMINATORY. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO NOT DISCRIMINATE IN WHO I MAKE FRIENDS WITH! BESIDES," he added, narrowing his eyes, "SANS IS THE ONE WITH A PET ROCK." He pointed at the table to the right of the door. The table was empty save for a paper plate with an ovular stone placed atop it. He rubbed his hands together. "NOW EAT UP, HUMAN! YOU WOULDN'T WANT PAPYRUS'S WORLD FAMOUS SPAGHETTI TO GO COLD, WOULD YOU?"

"Of course not," I muttered, grabbing the fork out of where it was embedded in the wall and placing the spaghetti on my lap. It had already gone cold, despite only have been cooked two minutes ago. I twirled some of the pasta around my fork and shoved it up, chewing it forcefully and swallowing it with some effort. "So, uh, what exactly is this famous for?" I asked.

"IT IS FAMOUS FOR BEING MADE BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, OF COURSE," he said.

I raised my eyebrows then said, "You know, I think... I think it would be a crime to not be able to properly enjoy this," I said, "and unfortunately I'm not very hungry right now." That last bit was I lie. I had not eaten in hours. But I also did not particularly want to eat the monstrosity that was in front of me.

Papyrus seemed to shrink. "OH, GOD DAMMIT," he said. "I WAS NOT ABLE TO IMPRESS YOU WITH MY PUZZLES, AND NOW I MISSED THE CHANCE TO IMPRESS YOU WITH MY SPAGHETTI."

"H-hey, don't feel bad," I said. "I'm... I'm not a huge fan of spaghetti, anyways." Papyrus turned to me, a horrified expression on his face.

"HOW DO YOU HATE SPAGHETTI?!" he shrieked. "AND THEY CALL US THE MONSTERS."

"I don't hate it," I said defensively, "It's just not my favorite food."

Papyrus brightened. "SO YOU DO LIKE IT," he said.

"No, I just don't hate it," I said.

"That doesn't make sense."

I grimaced. "Never mind," I said.

"SO WHAT BRINGS YOU TO THE HOUSE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS?" the skeleton asked, reluctantly taking my plate and putting it in the refrigerator.

"Uh, Pepper said... Pepper said that you have a garage I could stay in? Since I don't have anywhere to go."

The skeleton's face lit up. "THE HUMAN WANTS TO STAY WITH ME?!" he squealed. "THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS! WE CAN EAT SPAGHETTI AND MAKE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS AND DEVISE PUZZLES AND BE BEST FRIENDS!"

"Uh... great," I said. "Although, uh, I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay here for."

"WHERE WOULD YOU GO, HUMAN?" asked Papyrus.

I shrugged. "I'm... I'm not sure. But, uh, I... this is not my home, you know?"

"BUT THIS CAN BECOME YOUR HOME, HUMAN!" declared the skeleton. I felt myself begin to grow annoyed with him.

"Yeah, but I already have a home. Somewhere. I... I'm hoping that when I find it, I'll be able to remember some things about myself. Where I came from. Who I am."

"HOW EXACTLY DO YOU PLAN TO FIND YOUR HOME IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER WHERE IT IS?"

I froze. Papyrus did have a point, I reluctantly admitted. "I... I think I'll know it when I see it," I told him. "I'd imagine it would be somewhere near well I fell down."

"THE SURFACE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE, HUMAN," he said. "YOU MAY NOT SURVIVE MORE THAN A FEW DAYS UP THERE SEPARATED FROM YOUR PEOPLE."

"I DON'T WANT TO STAY DOWN HERE," I snarled, standing up and lunging forwards. My fingers balled up into a fist. Papyrus stared at me.

"CAN I GET YOU SOMETHING, HUMAN?" he asked. "DO YOU NEED HELP WITH SOMETHING?"

"Yes! Yes, I do! I need help GETTING OUT!" I yelled. "I need help LEAVING HERE!"

I am not entirely sure what happened after that, but the next thing I knew, Papyrus had his arms wrapped around me and face was buried in his scarf. "SHH, HUMAN," Papyrus was saying. "THE UNDERGROUND WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE A HOME FOR YOU IF YOU NEED ONE," he said.

I pulled away. "Don't you see, I don't WANT to live in the Underground," I choked.

"h-hey, kid. what are you doing here?" I heard a voice say behind me. Sans was standing in the doorway. "whoa, are you okay?"

"I don't want to stay here forever," I told him. "I don't want to be trapped underground here forever."

"hey, none of us do, bucko," he said. "be brave, kid. I'm told you humans are good at that." I nodded reluctantly. "on the bright side," he said, "you can't get homesick if you don't remember your home."

"Not funny, Sans," I grumbled. Sans shrugged sheepishly.

"can't help it," he said. "they call me a comedian for a reason."

"I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE CALL YOU THAT, SANS," Papyrus said.

"And you wouldn't be able to make any money from that," I said.

"oh wow, rude," Sans said, placing one hand on his chest. "i am deeply hurt by that comment." I glared at him.

"SANS, THE HUMAN ASKED TO STAY IN OUR GARAGE!" Papyrus announced.

"Well actually, Pepper sugges-"

"the garage?" Sans cut me off. "why would you want to stay in our garage?" He sounded surprised.

"I have nowhere else," I said, my eyes narrowed.

"fine, very well, et cetera, et cetera," he said. He then seemed to float up off of the ground and onto the second story. I stared after him. Papyrus didn't seem to see anything off. "at least fix it up to make it livable," he said before disappearing into his bedroom.

"SANS! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OUR GARAGE!" Papyrus yelled.

Sans opened the door slightly and poked his head out. "it looks like a doghouse!" he complained. "the human is not a dog!"

Papyrus sighed. "VERY WELL, BROTHER," he said reluctantly. He shrugged his scarf across his shoulders like a cape and leaped dramatically out the door.

"uh, make yourself at home, kid," Sans said. He nodded at me, then retracted his head into his bedroom like a turtle hiding in its shell. The door closed softly behind him.

Papyrus returned a moment later. I didn't understand how it was possible to make a garage 'livable' in that little time, but I didn't question it. "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GETTING A PET DOG, HUMAN?"

"How do I what?"

Sans's door opened once more. "we talked about this, brother," he called. "you... we... are not getting a dog. cats are better." He closed his door once more.

"W-what?" I asked.

"MY BROTHER IS AN IDIOT," said Papyrus. "WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIND A CAT DOWN HERE?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Is everything down here sentient?" I asked.

"OF COURSE, HUMAN," Papyrus said. "EVERYTHING DOWN HERE IS EQUAL."

"Why would you keep a sentient being as a pet?"

Papyrus fell silent. "AS A HOUSE GUEST, HUMAN," he said eventually.

"If your equivalent of a pet is a house guest, then that means that I'm your pet," I said, raising an eyebrow.

Papyrus eyed me for a moment. "DETAILS, DETAILS," he said eventually. "I DON'T FEEL THE NEED TO DEAL WITH THE NUANCES OF LIFE," he said. "I FEEL THAT IT DETRACTS TO ENJOYING LIFE TO THE FULLEST."

"You certainly seem to be doing that," I muttered under my breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT, HUMAN?"

I shook my head. "Nevermind," I said. We lapsed into an awkward silence. I broke it eventually by saying, "Well, I'm going to go take a look around the town," I said. "I guess... I guess I'll be staying here for a while."

"DO YOU WANT ME TO GUIDE YOU, HUMAN?"

"No thanks, Papyrus, I think I can manage."

"GREAT," he said. "I HAVE A MEETING WITH UNDYNE LATER. IT'S TIME FOR OUR 5528TH COOKING LESSON!"

I blinked. "You're still counting them?"

"OF COURSE, HUMAN. I WOULD BE A BAD FRIEND IF I STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION TO THESE THINGS."

I nodded slowly. "Well okay then," I said, walking out of the house. Papyrus waltzed out behind me.

"FAREWELL, HUMAN," he said, strolling off.

I smiled. "Bye, Papyrus."


	3. Chapter 3

Several hours had passed before I returned to the house. Sans's door had opened. Papyrus was still not back.

"welcome home, kid," Sans said. I wondered how he knew it was me. Or maybe he just called Papyrus 'kid', too.

Sans seemed to know a lot, I thought. I disagree with Papyrus's notion that he was an idiot. "Can... can we talk?" I asked, walking up the stairs and lingering in Sans's doorway.

"sure, kid. ome in," he said. I did.

His room was a mess. A treadmill was placed in the center for whatever reason, and several socks had managed to generate a tornado in one corner. Sans was laying on his bed, staring at the wall. He did not seem to have anything else occupying his attention. Just a plain, solidly colored wall.

"what do you-" he began, then cut off as his phone started ringing. "hold on just a minute, kid," he said, fishing in his hoodie pocket. "sans the skelet-" His face seemed to grow even paler, if that was possible for a skeleton. "y-you... hold on." he stood up, shoving his feet into a pair of slippers. "excuse me for a minute kid," he said, slipping past me and out the door. "why have you never called back?" I heard him say to the person on the other side of the phone. "i missed you, kid."

His phone volume was loud enough for me to hear what was going on on the other side of the phone. "I'm not a kid anymore," they were laughing. "You, however, don't sound like you've aged a day."

"guess your memory must be going, kid."

"Sans!" the person on the other side of the phone said. The word was said admonishingly, but they seemed happy. "I'm sixty three!"

"your point? back when you were a little kid your kind was expected to live to when they were eighty." My eyes widened. Sans was talking to a human, I realized. The human who left fifty-some years ago, probably.

"Recent developments in technology are a blessing, old friend. That's why I'm able to call you now," they added brightly. "They finally have good enough cell service to sponsor this call. I had to get this phone as soon as it came out. Meant I had to drop a couple thousand on it, but it's worth it. You have no idea how long I waited to hear your voice." They were choking up now.

"fifty six years, actually," the skeleton said. I only got a one-quarter profile of his face, but tears seemed to be welling up in his eyes, although how exactly a skeleton can cry, I have no idea.

"Figures that you would keep track," the person on the other side of the phone said.

"it was paps, actually. he throws a massive party every year on the day you fell, and a another one on the day you leave. the queen made it a nationally recognized holiday."

The phone fell silent for a moment. "Listen, old friend, I've got an idea to smash the barrier." Sans eyes widened, and he waited for his friend to continue. "I studied biochemistry in science. Thanks for that, by the way. Thanks to you and Alphys... It's because of you two that I have an interest in science. Anyways... I made it my life's work to try to come up with a way of producing DETERMINATION artificially. To try and gather enough to break the barrier, you know? Kind of like with Alphys's experiments, only without a flower test subject who goes all psycho-murderer on everyone. Unfortunately, the god damn government wouldn't let me just extract the DETERMINATION from the deceased. Apparently it disturbs the body. And even those who choose to donate their body to science I can't work with because apparently DETERMINATION doesn't exist. I don't believe the fu-"

"hey, kid, careful, i have another human child here who might be able to hear you," Sans interrupted.

"O-oh! Sorry. How long have they been down there for?"

"i dunno, like a day?"

The person on the other side of the phone fell silent. "Their timing couldn't be better," they said. They sounded like they were having trouble talking, like what happens when you're crying. "A-anyways... I don't believe the government, I've seen the effects of DETERMINATION with my own two eyes. None of them... none of them believe in monsters anymore, either. If they knew what my research was really about, they'd... they'd stick me in a mental institution. Th-there are days when I hardly believe that it happened myself. Maybe I was just a confused seven year old kid who liked to dream. But still, I continued with my research, and... eventually, today, I was finally able to call you. I... I missed you. I'm so glad to hear you're alright."

"h-hey, kid, don't start crying on me," Sans said "everything's fine. tell me more about this plan of yours."

"Anyways, so I came so, so, so close to being able to recreate DETERMINATION artificially. The flaws in my experiment were barely existent. So, when I realized I could use this phone to... finally call back the number that's been leaving messages on my voicemail at least once a week for fifty six years-I still have that phone, by the way. And it works just as well now as it did fifty six years ago-I snapped up the opportunity. I need your and Alphys's help. Will you help me?"

"what kind of a question is that?" Sans asked. "one thing, though. how exactly do you plan on getting us in the same room to work on this experiment of yours?"

"I plan on throwing myself down Mt. Ebott again," they said ominously. "That's where I am right now. I have all of my equipment. So here goes, old friend."

"w-wait! kid, hold up! don't just- no! wait!" A loud crash could be heard on the other side of the phone. "oh my god," Sans said, his eyes widening. He turned and looked back at me. He looked... scared. "k-kid, are... are you okay?! Talk to me, buddy."

"Heh... hahaha... I... I'm fine," they said. "A bit... a bit dizzy... but other than that..."

"JESUS CHRIST WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT?!" Sans yelled. That was the first and only time I ever heard him raise his voice.

"H-hey, it's fine, old friend," the voice said. "I forgot to mention... that some company invented these things called long-fall boots... They're pretty cool. And very useful. Not sure I agree much with the company's practices, though," they added.

"why the hell would you scare me like that?" Sans demanded. "you're over sixty! In human perspective, you're frail! this was the first time i've talked to you in fifty six years and then I thought you DIED!"

"Sorry, Sans," they said. "I'll try to give you a warning next time."

"there isn't going to be a 'next time,'" the skeleton grumbled. "from now on, you're not allowed to go jumping off any more cliffs. understand?"

"Oh, do lighten up," they said. "Do you think you're my mother?"

"i do if it will stop you from jumping off any more cliffs," Sans said in response. The voice on the other side of the phone laughed.

"Fine, mom," they grumbled mockingly. "Hey, is there anybody still in the Ruins? I... I am not sure how well my memory is working about these damn puzzles."

Sans glanced at me. "no, but we'll meet you there," he said.

"We?" they inquired.

"me and this human child. they just got here, so i probably shouldn't leave them alone for long."

"I'm fourteen," I told him. "That's old enough to stay home alone. Even if you're not particularly familiar with the home."

"not by monster standards," Sans told me. He grabbed my sweater sleeve. "come on. we'll be right there, kid. i missed you."

"Haha... missed you too, skeleton. Try to hurry. The last time I was left alone in the pit in Mt. Ebott a demon flower tried attacking me."

Sans chuckled. "we'll be there soon, kid," he said. "see ya then."

"So why exactly did you decide to bring me along?" I asked. We were heading through the Ruins (which I guess was the name of that first place I ventured through). Apparently there was a way across the spike bridge without leaping in the water and nearly drowning yourself. The more you know.

"the other human wants to meet you," he said. He had led me through several 'shortcuts' which made absolutely no sense in the normal continuum of space, yet he did not seem bothered by it at all.

"So why didn't you just say so?" I asked.

Sans shrugged. "because I was talking to a sixty-some year old person at the time who is trying to maintain a professional veneer which would have been shattered by that statement."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why would they care?" I asked. Sans looked at me, licked his 'lips,' (his tongue was cyan blue, in case you were wondering. I have no idea how skeletons have tongues, for the record,) and shrugged.

"humans are weird," he suggested eventually.

"I am unimpressed by that explanation."

"too bad."

We arrive at the entrance a few minutes later. A tall man wearing a lab coat and dark brown pants ran over to Sans as he entered and swept him off the ground in a hug. "h-hey, kid, take it easy. not so bonecrushing." He winked as he said the last word, despite the fact that he appeared to be extremely uncomfortable and was having trouble breathing, despite his lack of lungs.

"Sorry," the man said, and released the skeleton immediately. He had to kneel to be eye level with him.

"you've grown, kid," Sans said. He stood on his tiptoes and rapped his knuckles against the man's skull. "i missed you," he said.

"Missed you too," the man replied. Looking up, he saw me hiding in the shadows and smiled. "Hey," he said. "I'm Frisk. Who are you?" I blinked twice, and Sans said something quietly to Frisk.

"There's no need to whisper, skeleton," I grumbled. "It's not like I'm going to get mad at you for stating facts."

"sorry," he said sheepishly. "she doesn't remember her name," he repeated louder.

"Sans," Frisk began.

"yeah, kid?"

"You just told me that." Sans smiled at him, and Frisk swooped him off the ground again. "Has it occurred to you that I could give you a piggy back ride now even though you're a few centuries older than I am?"

"as a matter of fact, it did not," Sans said. "given that i had no idea how tall you were until a few minutes ago." Frisk grinned.

"C'mon," he said. "Now that it's been brought up, it must happen."

"must it?" sans asked reluctantly.

"It must," Frisk said. He swung Sans onto his back. The image of the sixty-some year old giving a piggy back ride to a skeleton half his size was oddly adorable.

"giddy up," Sans said. "you better not drop me."

"I'll do my best," Frisk said.

"that doesn't make me feel very secure."

"Sounds like a personal problem," he said, trotting off into the Ruins. I ran behind them, struggling to make it through the puzzles before they reset and I would be forced to leap over spikes once more. Fortunately, this only happened once.

"Still got any of those shortcuts of yours, Sans?" Frisk asked.

"naturally," Sans replied.

"Yet you never used them to slip inside the Ruins and meet Tori in person?" Frisk teased. I did not know who Tori was, but the snide remark seemed to annoy Sans.

"with comments like that, i'm not going to bother helping you out," he said.

"You sure it's not because you like me giving you a piggy back ride?"

"no."

"No, you're not sure?"

"that is correct," Sans said. He had spread himself across Frisk's back like an octopus, his limbs splaying outwards and his body flattened against Frisk's back. I wondered how he managed to do that without temporarily turning his body into fluid. "can you at least move a little faster?"

Frisk swiveled his head to grin at the parasite clinging to his back. "If you insist," he said, and began sprinting down the hall. I took off after them, cursing both of them as I did so.

"i didn't mean quite that fast!" I heard Sans snarl.

It was dark by the time we arrived back in Snowdin. Frisk had spent the majority of the journey looking around him wondrously, which I suppose he has the right to do, given that it had been fifty six years (apparently) since he had last seen the place.

"do you still live in the same house?" Frisk asked.

Sans blinked sleepily. "realize, kid, that fifty six years isn't that long for monsters. yes, we still live in the same house."

"Still have that weird underground la-"

"let's keep that between you and me," Sans interrupted. Frisk nodded acquiescence.

"Do you have a place for me to stay, perchance, old friend? Or shall I get a place at the Inn? I still have 348G that I saved in a pouch from when I was down here."

Sans blinked. "man kid, you missed us, huh."

Frisk said nothing for a minute. "More than you could have possibly imagined," he whispered. "If there's one thing I learned from being down here… it's… that humans are the true monsters. To see this societal utopia but be forced to reintegrate myself into the commonalities of the human world-"

"woah, buddy, slow down so the kid can understand."

"I'm fourteen," I said defensively. "I could understand everything that he said."

"Hah…" Frisk half-laughed, half-choked. "I missed you… and Paps… Undyne, Alphys, Toriel… even Asgore."

"i know, buddy. we'll make it out of here eventually. i'm eager to see that plan of yours, by the way," Sans said. He seemed to have a deep affection for the human. I wondered how long Frisk was trapped down here for.

"Oh! Right. C'mon guys, we have no time to lose. Let's head to Alphys's lab." He took off at a long-legged stride, swooping up Sans as he did so and tossing the skeleton over his shoulder. Sans looked like he had the wind knocked out of him as he did so, but at the same time his face erupted with a massive grin. I saw cyan tears form in the corner of his eyes as I took off after the two of them.

 **A/N:**

 ***stare helplessly at reader***

 **This was not the plan.**


End file.
